Tuesday was one of the busiest NFL trade deadlines in memory… and still kind of lame

To hear football fans and analysts tell it, Tuesday was the wildest day in sports history. The NFL’s trade deadline came and went, and instead of the usual idle silence, we got a handful of trades involving notable players. It was a revelation.

The Bills picked up receiver Kelvin Benjamin from the Panthers for 2018 third- and seventh-round picks.

The Seahawks nabbed offensive tackle Duane Brown from the Texans in exchange for cornerback Jeremy Lane, a 2018 fifth-round pick, and a 2019 second-round pick.

The Jaguars got defensive tackle Marcell Dareus from the Bills for a 2018 sixth-round pick.

The Jets picked up cornerback Rashard Robinson for an undisclosed 2018 pick.

The Browns acquired Bengals quarterback A.J. McCarrom—wait, nope, they reportedly failed to call in the trade on time. Never mind.

Aaaand… that’s it. Six trades, involving seven players and eight draft picks, none of which were first-rounders. Of the players moved, none could be considered an A-list, or even B-list, star. They have among them six Pro Bowl appearances, including only one since 2014. There is not a Yu Darvish or a Clayton Kershaw in this group, nor a DeMarcus Cousins. And there was certainly no frantic barrage of deals to keep your Twitter feed moving all day, the way there often is in baseball and basketball.

Yes, we get it. The NFL is different because it’s tough to integrate players mid-season. But that fact that this is the absolute best of NFL trade season just reinforces how lame the deadline really is.

About Alex Putterman

Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.